Tag: A Cage for Horrors

Welcome to the final weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

The past week consisted of two days: Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, I completed the final chapter of the story. I tied off the final threads that had been left hanging in the dramatic climax of the penultimate chapter, providing closing and making sure that everyone knows where we leave our heroes. Some characters may still be AWOL, but that is done on purpose. I didn’t manage the full 5000 words, only 4200, but for the final chapter… I think that is okay.

On Saturday I completed the Epilogue and told myself that I did a good job. That was worth it.

After that… I took some time for myself. My friends came over for roleplaying. I spent an evening gaming, instead of writing. There was some last-minute shopping for the holiday season…

Because I’m done!

I did a little better. As you can see below, the final position is about three times as high as the picture above suggests.

It’s been a good month. A heavy, but good month.

What happened in the story?

Like I said above, the story is tied off. The only thing that I left behind was a hook. A point to pick up. There is room for more story, for I imagined this story to span at least two books.

Final thoughts?

There is nothing more to do. The story had been completed in the way I had described it.

That doesn’t mean it was perfect. I noticed as I was writing the final chapters that there were a couple of plot points that had been left by the wayside. I put down some references in the end, but savvy readers will notice that there were points that apparently disappeared and suddenly reappeared by the end. There is no doubt that I want to rewrite this.

There were also a couple of chapters where Cadence, the main character, got in uncomfortable situations. She got immobilized and questioned, or hurt. Upon review, I realized that they gave a decided impression that she was being raped. There is no need for rape in my story to give it a sense of pressure and drama, so I need to rewrite those parts, as well.

I have already made notes. My next blog will detail how, and when, I will plan to pick this up!

Besides that, I feel my energy had definite low and high points. I had trouble getting into the story, which made the first four or five chapters difficult to write. After that I got on a roll and the chapters came easy and quickly. I even had time left in the evening!

The last week was a chore, though. Fatigue had decidedly set in and I was losing time. I didn’t get to the tempo that I wanted to, writing in spurts that more or less kept my on pace, but nothing more. The last chapter was especially difficult, taking a full evening.

I don’t think that putting it off would have helped at all. It would have just meant I wouldn’t finish the book.

But I did it! The story is written. Now… time for the next steps. Come back next week for that!

Welcome to the fourth weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

In my previous update, I said that the Thursday was a heavy day. I had only been able to write about 2000 words. On Friday, I returned with a vengeance and carried these words over, writing about 6000 words on that day. 2500 of these were for the next chapter, chapter 21.

These 2500 helped me on Saturday. I only planned to write one chapter due to scouting eating my morning and a significant part of the afternoon. With my head start, and by starting early in the morning with chores, I got to work. I finished the chapter I started, completed a second one, and started a third. Way more than I planned and making up for Thursday.

After that, on Sunday, I knuckled down again and wrote 3 chapters and most of a fourth. This included the work I did on Saturday, allowing me to end a little earlier. That was likely my last 3-chapter day and I have to admit that I’m glad for it. These days take a lot out of me, but I described that before. I ended the weekend with 25 chapters finished. The countdown has officially started.

Monday was the day that I noticed fatigue setting in. I had 3000 words already written for chapter 26 and after finishing that chapter, I was unmotivated to keep writing. I put on a stream and just decided to see how far I’d get and still wrote a cool 2000 words for chapter 27.

On Tuesday I finished chapter 27 and did the same thing as I did on Monday, writing 2500 words into chapter 28. I was still ahead of planning!

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday. Finished 28, started 29.

Because of that start, I could finish chapter 29 before my roleplaying session, this evening. A day I hadn’t even expected to complete a chapter!

Did I earn any badges?

One! I made a 21 day streak!

What happened in the story?

Darryl escapes his run-in with the law and learns things about a seemingly innocent friend. He isn’t able to give this enough thought when disaster strikes! His ex-girlfriend is gone! Who took her and where did they go? Will the guard believe her?

Cadence, meanwhile, learns the consequences of everything that has happened to her. Is she going insane? Or is she really being helped by an unknown force? Just as she wants to take vengeance for something that was done to Darryl, she is stopped… and the two are reunited.

Just in time to be accused of a whole lot of crimes. The endgame has finally started, where the problems accrued by Cadence come to a head and Darryl learns something new and unexpected about his powers.

How does the next week look?

We’re in the home stretch! I just finished chapter 29 today, which means I have one more chapters to go, plus the epilogue. This will be done tomorrow, on Friday, and the day after, on Saturday.

After that, the challenge is over for me. I’ve more than beat the set NaNoWriMo challenge and also completed my personal challenge. After 23 days of hard work, I think I can manage two more days.

What’ll be done with the manuscript after that? Well, I’ll discuss that later. I will be relaxing and gaming a bit, I think.

Are we still on schedule?

Yes! We are right where I want to be!

Welcome to the third weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

I started the week with a head start. As I wrote last week, I had been paying the 2000 words I had written on a ‘half day’ forward. I kept that going, carrying the extra words over and writing about 6500 words on Friday, as opposed to the roughly 1500 that I still had to write after Thursday. I had some trouble that evening, but it was a Friday, so I had the time.

The 4000 words that carried over on Friday were finished on Saturday. With that, I wrote about 16500 words that day, bringing my total to 73.400 and completing the story up to chapter 14. That evening, I decided I was on a roll and wrote the first 2000 words for the next day. On Sunday I took it a little easier and just wrote my three chapters, taking advantage of my head start. Productive weekend, and I’m officially a chapter ahead. I did find that the amount of writing was too much on Saturday. I had trouble concentrating by the end of the afternoon. I had been writing for since 08:30 by then, though.

On Monday, I wrote a chapter as planned. On Tuesday I had a roleplaying session in the evening, but I managed to write 3000 words beforehand, despite the fact that I hadn’t planned on completing anything. That is how you manage to keep things going – taking these little extra’s here and there and using them as a bonus.

Because I was a chapter ahead, I decided to have dinner with my parents on Wednesday. That was a nice change of pace and because of the 3000 words I wrote on Tuesday, I managed to still complete a chapter. Another chapter ahead of schedule!

Unfortunately, Thursday was a killer day. I didn’t get a lot of writing done due to a heavy working day leaving me with a headache.

I did break through the 100.000 words barrier, though! I also got the 14 day’s streak award without really noticing it. Only one more award to go!

What happened in the story?

While Darryl is busy gathering enemies, Cadence is busy gathering clues from perhaps the most unreliable man in the world. They disappear, but she eventually manages to find them, after uncovering what could very well be the big antagonist of this story.

While he’s been gathering enemies, Darryl has also been talking with a little boy and his mother. They’re undeniably flirty, but will the situation allow them to continue? Especially if the enemies are… quite dangerous. They may become an issue later. Darryl also has a run-in with the law.

How does the next week look?

The next week will be a little busier. I have scouting on Saturday morning, which, if you include the need to drive back and do all the cat-related things afterwards, will mean I won’t be able to write three chapters like I did this past week. I anticipate to finish chapter 28 by this time next week!

Are we still on schedule?

I was ahead of schedule a little bit, until I decided to have dinner with my parents. I enjoyed it, so I don’t regret it. Thanks to my hard work of last week, I didn’t have to suffer in my planning.

I’m still aiming for the 25th! We’ve passed the halfway mark, so the end is already in sight and I will keep writing.

Welcome to the second weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

Public transit has not been my friend, in the past week. On Friday I came home a full hour later than I anticipated. Thankfully, as it was a Friday, I could also go on a little longer than usual. My frustration with the transit could be nicely channeled into some writing, so I went on top speed, that evening.

Saturday was the day of The Rock Circus, so I only had time for about two thousand words in the morning, between other responsibilities, before I had to go. That did mean that I had 2000 less words to write on Sunday, so I managed to finish my target of 3 chapters, that day. I did mark one of these chapters for rewriting already, though, for the events in chapter 5 felt… uncomfortable.

Monday and Tuesday were ‘normal’ days. I wrote a chapter each day.

On Wednesday I was only able to write briefly, typing enough to keep my streak going with another 2000 words. After that I had a meeting for Scouting, which is one of those social obligations I can’t escape from. I could make use of that headstart today, as I had to do less work to reach my chapter’s worth. I took those 2000 words and completed my chapter… and then wrote 3000 words for the next one in my motivation.

All in all, I have completed 9 chapters so far. If I include the extra work I did today, I’m almost 10 chapters in! It’s slightly over the average I strive for.

What badges did I earn?

In the past week, I earned the following NaNoWriMo badges:

• Update Wordcount 3 Days in a Row/Update Wordcount 7 Days in a Row. I kept the streak going successfully! Writing every day is fun and keeps me going, after all.
• Write 25.000 Words/Write 40.000 Words. I have almost completed the 50.000 words challenge… but I’m not even at a third of my planned story. I’ll need the rest of the month, too!
• Wrote 50.000 Words in November. Officially, I’m done! I’m also way too early, but this page will activate soon enough!

The amount of badges will slow down considerably in the next week. There’s only two more left to earn… and these are the streak badges. I won’t get the last two, as these require me to update every day and increase my wordcount by at least 1667 words every day. I just won’t be writing that long!

What happened in the story?

After two chapters of introducing my main characters, an instigating event has finally happened. Cadence and Darryl found the motivation to continue with the rest of my story, after which they gathered some unlikely allies… and met some unlikely friends.

Cadence has also been hurt during their investigation. Nobody is aware of how hurt she actually is, including herself… though before the end of the first act, it becomes clear that there is something seriously wrong. Will she be able to deal with it? I’ll have to find out while writing!

Finally, in the second act, Cadence has entered the darkness that she has been fearing so far… and Darryl has met a woman. Things can only go wrong from there!

How does the next week look?

Amazingly, I only have a plan for the Tuesday, when I have a bi-weekly roleplaying evening planned. I’ll probably write before that roleplaying starts, but I don’t anticipate completing a chapter. Besides that… there is nothing. I have time! Time to write!

That also means that this weekend, I will aim to write 30.000 words. Six chapters, a full fifth of my story. I’ll have to see if I can live up to that ambition!

Are we still on schedule?

So far, it looks like my overachieving on Sunday has balanced out missing the Wednesday. I stayed nice and disciplined during the rest of the week, so the 25th is still my target end date!

It does look like I’ll end closer to the 150.000 words than the 180.000 that I had originally been aiming for. I find that my chapters have been distributed very tightly and I have wondered a couple of times if I was even going to make the 5.000 words, already. Over the past 9 chapters, I have only added about 1000 words to the chapter count x 5.000, plus the 1.000 words of prologue. It’s fine, though, for the goal is 30 chapters, not 180.000 words.

We’ll see how close we can get!

Welcome to the first weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

Day one was yesterday. I took off with a sprinting start: 6008 words spread across the prologue and first chapter. Unfortunately, I started to rethink my prologue the day before I started. The new prologue required some tooling to make it work, but I think I succeeded. What I had originally planned for the prologue was folded into chapter one!

I also started out in a way I usually don’t: with an action scene. Usually, I like to build towards those, but with this story it felt good to start with a little fight.

Chapter two was more difficult to write. I came to the realization that I hadn’t given myself a lot in the first couple of chapters to seed my creativity. It was a bit of a slog to get to my wordcount, but by the end of my writing today I finished at 11.013 words.

In the past week, I earned the following NaNoWriMo badges:

• Update my Writing Progress. This one was for recording my first progress, which I did after completing the prologue.
• First-Day Update. As the title suggests, I updated my progress on the first day of the challenge.
• Update More than Once in One Day. I tend to update several times over the course of my writing, whenever I need to switch screens real quick to give myself a moment to think and reflect. A good way to show your progress!
• Start a Streak. By updating two days in a row, I started my first writing streak.
• Write 1.667 Words/Write 5.000 Words/Write 10.000 Words. These are pretty self explanatory, I think. Keeping track of major milestones is important, even if I blast by them at this pace!

What happened in the story?

We are introduced to Cadence, Darryl, Herb, and East Light City as Cadence and Darryl fight off a mysterious creature that almost kills Herb. We learn a little bit of the powers that the two command and the way they do command them. Additionally, the chaos of East Light City and the Southern Stacks that dominate it are briefly explained, though we will explore those further in future chapters!

Chapter two was mostly focused on Cadence and her past. She’s the main character of this book for a reason!

How does the next week look?

I expect that the coming week won’t live up to its full potential. I go to The Rock Circus on Saturday, which will last until early morning on Sunday. After that, I will still need to drive home. Three chapters will be a challenge after that, though I’ll give it a shot!

For the rest of the week, I have kept my evenings free. I do expect having to have a meeting for Scouting on Wednesday, which will cost an evening. Thankfully, I took this into account and I think it won’t impact the schedule too much.

Are we still on schedule?

I would be very disappointed if I wasn’t on day two! Though I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete chapter two with the wordcount I was aiming for, I succeeded. Now that the story is picking up steam, I will have less trouble with reaching my words. The beginning is always the hardest!

Practically speaking, with everything I wrote above in mind, I currently anticipate finishing on the 25th of November. That’s what I’ll be aiming for!